Improving teacher preparation has become a focus of educational reform efforts. Discusses professional development strategies that help teachers grow, barriers to growth, the importance of making a career of learning, elements of effective professional development programs, effective alternatives to one-shot workshops, standards for good teaching,…

Investigated the benefits of Professional Development School (PDS) endeavors as perceived by university faculty participating in the Holmes Group. Data from open-ended surveys identified four themes related to PDS benefits: (1) improved teaching/learning environments; (2) improved collegiality in professional relationships; (3) personal and…

Describes one approach to teacher leadership that views teaching, learning, and leading as synonymous, supporting this view with data from a Florida school improvement project. The Lockheed Martin/University of Central Florida Academy for Mathematics and Science is a school-university-business partnership which creates a network of school-based…

A pull-out folder presents the latest information and resources about teaching reading. After offering statistics about reading and reading instruction, the folder examines National Council of Teachers of English and English/International Reading Association standards, explains how to nurture a love of reading in students, and offers resources for…

Describes the Massachusetts School of Law's efforts to reshape its curriculum and programs to prepare graduates better for the practice of law in the contemporary professional setting, including professional development and mentoring for young faculty; a curriculum that includes heavy emphasis on writing, speaking, and other practice skills;…

Student teachers, student teacher supervisors, and cooperating teachers gave advice to a hypothetical student teacher, then researchers compared responses to determine patterns of similarity and difference. Results revealed differences (though not troubling differences) in the proportions of advice given in the areas of professionalism,…

Media literacy helps teachers relate to today's students, prompts new approaches to curriculum, and encourages teachers' professional growth. This paper explains what media literacy is; the benefits of media literacy to both teachers and students; student needs related to telecommunications; curriculum applications of media literacy; and teacher…

An action research group for Israeli English-language teachers helped them learn from and support one another while introducing portfolio assessment as an integral part of their teaching. Using portfolios for foreign language teaching, learning, and assessment increased learners' responsibility and improved classroom work. The action-research…

This collection of innovations includes: suggestions for attracting more minority group teachers by getting more students of color into college; an e-mail mentoring program; a statewide student newspaper; an online nutrition education program; and a Vital Links communication training, which is a professional development program that builds more…

Presents data on the percent of full-time public school teachers indicating the extent to which participation in professional development activities in various content areas improved their classroom teaching, by number of hours spent in professional development in that content area in the last 12 months (1998). (SM)

As part of a larger project aimed at promoting science and literacy for culturally and linguistically diverse elementary students, this study has two objectives: (a) to describe teachers' initial beliefs and practices about inquiry-based science and (b) to examine the impact of the professional development intervention (primarily through…

With less than 10 percent of St. Louis Public Schools' students reaching the "proficient" level in the Missouri Assessment Program (MAP), the district felt some changes needed to be made, and quickly. Accordingly, the district turned to the eMINTS (enhancing Missouri's Instructional Networked Teaching Strategies; www.emints.org) program…

When mobile assessment tools was first introduced to teachers at Kyffin Elementary School in Jefferson Country, Colorado, teachers were not comfortable with the technology. According to Blanche Kapushion, principal at Kyffin, teachers were not used to using technology in class, and it did not look like that was going to change. Nonetheless,…

This concluding chapter offers a number of key considerations for institutions interested in developing and delivering adult degree programs.

As community college faculty become more involved with online courses, questions are emerging about pedagogy, workload, intellectual property, and a number of other issues. This chapter examines how the online environment has affected faculty work life.